Written by: Steve Frazer While ETC has operations in 19 US states and 37 foreign nations, we are based out of southern Nevada. The definition of “hot” in our local area has come to mean any temperature over 120F. Historically, we experience 100+F highs everyday for 6 months of the year and during the summer months, it is common for the temperature to remain above 100F day and night. In such heat, the simple task of refueling a vehicle can be quite uncomfortable. So you have your Sweetie in your car beside you headed out shopping or going to dinner and a movie. Maybe you have your client in the car and you have to stop for fuel. If you have a “Baby on Board”, everyone at the filling station anticipates 2-3 minutes after you turn off your engine that cute happy baby becomes an unhappy screaming bundle of discontent due to the discomfort of the extreme heat. If your vehicle runs E85/Flex-Fuel or E10/Regular/Premium Gasohol (10% Ethanol/90% gasoline), then you are legislatively required to turn off your engine while refueling. This law typically includes a $2,500 fine for non-compliance and is active in all 50 states for good reason. The vapors of Ethanol and gasoline are easily ignited from static electricity, any random spark, your own engine combustion/electronics or the 1,500F catalytic convertor, cell phone static and a long list of other sources. If you do not turn off your engine, you may indeed experience a fiery death from a “refueling fire” (over 1,000 incidents per year in the U.S. alone). Since Flex-Fuel vehicles are on the rise...

For 20 years there have been rumors about Cadillac releasing a new diesel engine, but with the hiring of Johan De Nysschen as their President (he was the President of Audi-USA and was responsible for bringing diesel Audi’s to the states many years ago) and the recent formal announcement, it looks like it will finally happen. This is a major statement about the status of drive trains for U.S. car makers. For nearly 100 years, Cadillac has lead the industry for innovations and technology selection and while they have been ever so slow – they have finally selected the best all-around drive train solution. Finally, Cadillacs that are responsible regarding fuel consumption (compared with gasoline versions), have lower emissions (than gasoline versions) and will be far safer from fires and explosions (than gasoline, hybrid and EV versions). This announcement is a major milestone in the U.S. Migration to diesel powered vehicles. Edmunds has published several articles over the past 3 years with the statistics for vehicle price recovery between diesel, hybrid and EV technologies over the traditional gasoline powered version of the same or similar vehicle. Typically, the purchase price of a diesel powered vehicle will be recouped in 2.5 years over a gasoline powered car, 7-9 years for a hybrid and literally never (far beyond the life-cycle of the car) for an EV (as the result of the higher purchase price and the $9K-$28K battery replacement cost). So while the diesel version is roughly $1,500-$3,500 more expensive to purchase, once you have owned the vehicle for 2.5 years and if your driving habits are in-line with national averages,...

Scientists at the Climate/Energy Design and Research institute (CEDAR) have just announced the discovery of an astounding new energy source that promises to solve several of humanity’s thorniest dilemmas at once. “This is a paradigm-shifting moment,” says Dawn O’Newday, the engineer in charge of the project. “Whatever your game is, this changes it. Big time.” The new energy source, called TREES (Totally Renewable Energy, Emissions capture, and Storage) is, as the name suggests, completely renewable. Unlike conventional power plants, TREES devices use no fuel; and unlike most solar and wind technologies, TREES requires no non-renewable materials for the manufacture of panels or turbines. Further, TREES devices are actually self-replicating, through a radical innovation known as SEEDS (Self-reproduction through Endo-Encrypted Data Simulation). Because each TREES device can make endless copies of itself without any mining or manufacturing cost, and because TREES captures abundant sunlight, this may be the first truly free energy source ever discovered by humanity. On top of that, TREES offers built-in energy storage. The technology captures energy from sunlight in real time, then chemically converts it to an energy-preserving substance that is both useful and durable. In their energy storage mode, TREES devices can be fashioned into usable items like furniture, houses, paper, packaging, and—best of all—musical instruments. The storage capabilities of this technology are both large in scale and long-term: the technology’s developers project that TREES will be able to store energy for hundreds of years, while some individual devices will be able to preserve the energy equivalent of 3000 barrels of oil. But the advantages of TREES technology don’t end there. As they capture and...

According to The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the environmental ramifications of EVs from well to wheel are significant. The study took into account all factors along the lifecycle of an electric vehicle, from the toxic battery ingredients like nickel and copper to the energy sources which power the grids that ultimately charge the cars’ batteries. “The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles,” one part of the study concludes, indicating that energy developed from lignite, coal, or heavy oil combustion makes it “counterproductive to promote electric vehicles.” Every emerging technology needs early supporters and if you can afford to pay $1-$2/mile to operate a small vehicle that offers limited range and you plan to operate your EV in grid areas not powered by coal plants, then the current EV manufacturers and future EV technologies will benefit from your support and we salute your commitment to this emerging technology. It has a very real potential at some point in the future (20-30 years) of being more environmentally friendly than other current options. If you have limited financial resources and still need to drive a private vehicle as is the situation with the vast majority of our nation’s population, we strongly suggest you join the U.S. Migration. While we are often criticized for reporting the facts, we have been educating the public for years. EV’s and Hybrids are not our Future EV Tech – Postmortem U.S. Migration For the full article – please click the link below…...

ETC Staff monitor and collect data from several hundred weather stations – many on our own project sites. Most every month we are recording data that we ultimately label, “[X] in recorded history” – [highest wind speed], [coldest temp], [hottest temp], [most rainfall in some period of time], … These extreme weather conditions are rapidly altering the averages … establishing new weather normals. For our home office location – 15 years ago the average rainfall was only 2.4″ annually, yet today, the national weather bureau reports the average annual precipitation is now 6.92″. In analyzing weather data for our orchards and our mineral operations sites, it is obvious that these new highs are happening at ever faster rates. That is, we are looking at hundreds of hockey stick graphs for ever higher temperatures, ever higher winds and new record precipitation – historic weather records commonly breaking recent historic weather records. While we recognize that climate cycles are based on a long list of variables – CO2 and other gas levels in our atmosphere, sun spots, seismic activity, wobble of the earth’s rotation, even the position of our solar system within the Milky Way galaxy – many of our project sites have weather data dating back over 200 years. Yet this massive amount of weather history is proving to be insufficient to enable us to predict our near future conditions. Weather is critical to most every aspect of our business – orchards, mineral processing, transportation and aviation. Our in-house meteorologist is now researching the ocean temperatures, ice cores, projected climate trends from university models covering eons, trying to support our...